Service Question

[kevmo327]

I have a 2004 Chevy Tahoe with 30K miles on it.

The oil is changed every 3000-3500 religiously and airfilter is serviced as needed.

Beyond that I usually swear by and follow the Edmunds.com service guide/owners manual and know that dealers and shops are more than happy to make you beleive you need to change coolant, brake fluid, PS fluid etc at 30K and whack you 400-500 for what the manual says should be nothing more than and oil change and fuel filter change.

The one question I have is about fuel system service.

Can anyone tell me if this is a worthwhile thing or by adding Techron (or other) to gas every 3000 miles just as good.

I plan on keeping this car for many years and want to take good care of it.

[RTexasF]

I feel that it is worth it. If you choose Techron get the large bottle for treating 20 gallons, unless your tank(s) is larger of course. Dump it in & fill 'er up every oil change.

I now use FP60 at every fill up. It is only 1 ounce per five gallons so it is very cost effective. More information is available here: http://www.lubecontrol.com/
I have no affiliation, just letting you know about a good product. It continually cleans and both of our cars had an increase in MPG. One increased by 1 MPG, the other 1.5. It's easily checked.....stop using it and the MPG drops by the same amount.

As far as the brake fluid goes, it IS a good idea to flush the system every 30K or so. The fluid gets contaminated and needs to be replaced. Some ABS systems are particularly sensitive to dirty brake fluid........Honda comes to mind.

[victory]

+1 for FP60. $40 of techron treats about 60 gallons. $40 of FP60 (shipped) treats 640 gallons. One of guys on a car club i belong to showed pics of his dirty heads and then a second pick 6000 miles later using FP60. The metal directly opposite the injector had gone from carbon black to totally clean bright shiny aluminum, the rest was vastly improved.

[rjstaaf]

Originally Posted by kevmo327

I have a 2004 Chevy Tahoe with 30K miles on it.

The oil is changed every 3000-3500 religiously and airfilter is serviced as needed.

Beyond that I usually swear by and follow the Edmunds.com service guide/owners manual and know that dealers and shops are more than happy to make you beleive you need to change coolant, brake fluid, PS fluid etc at 30K and whack you 400-500 for what the manual says should be nothing more than and oil change and fuel filter change.

The one question I have is about fuel system service.

Can anyone tell me if this is a worthwhile thing or by adding Techron (or other) to gas every 3000 miles just as good.

I plan on keeping this car for many years and want to take good care of it.

I wouldn't just write off the manufacturer's recommendations. If you don't want to pay the dealer than do these service items yourself. It is not as hard as you might think even with basic hand tools. I typically service (flush) brake fluid, transmission fluid, power steering fluid and coolant annually regardless of miles.

Here is a pic of my brake fluid at the first flush I did on the car which if I recall was around 40K. I bought the car with 15K on it and really wish I had done it sooner as that dark brown fluid in that bottle is not Diet Coke.

[victory]

forgot to mention it...The manufacturers like to make all kinds of claims about "lifetime" fluids. GM tells me that the dexcool and supercharger oil will last for ever and give rediculous change intervals for the other fluids. I however realize that fluids that last "the life of the car" if not changed result in a much shorter "life of the car"

[kevmo327]

Sorry, might have said it wrong - I follow GM's suggested service to a T and us Edmunds as a guide for that.

My poiint was that the stealerships like to try and packae a whole lot of other stuff that is no where in the manual

[victory]

wouldn't know, i do my maintenence myself, but it does sound like the dealership to do maintenence that isn't required.